Shuttle propelling mechanism for looms



March 12, 1957 w. WADE 2,784,743

SHUTTLE PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed July '2, 1954 10 2 6 24 /oo o o 30 p i j 8 O O 0 L. [E I United States Patent SHUTTLE PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Worth Wade, Rosemont, Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application July 2, 1954, Serial No. 440,835

7 Claims. (Cl. 139-142) This invention rel-ates in general to looms and in particular to a shuttle driving mechanism for looms. This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 254,720, filed November 3, 1951, now United States Patent No. 2,682,895, which issued July 6, 1954.

In my parent application there was disclosed for the first time a shuttle driving mechanism for looms in which the shuttle was reciprocated through the weaving shed by means of an explosive. The present invention relates to further improvements in such shuttle driving mechanism especially designed for the use of fluid propellants either liquid or gaseous.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide means for driving a shuttle in a loom at a speed faster than present shuttle driving devices and with such force that it will be possible to weave fabrics wider than those which can be woven with prior looms and prior shuttle driving mechanisms. it is a specific object of the invention to provide a high speed shuttle driving mechanism for looms. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

According to the present invention there is provided a shuttle driving mechanism for looms in which the shuttle is reciprocated through the weaving shed by means of the explosive force generated by a fluid propellant under controlled conditions. In one embodiment of the invention the shuttle is driven by the explosion of a liquid propellant and in a second embodiment the shuttle is driven by the explosion of a gaseous mixture, for example, by the use of a gaseous propellant and more specifically by the use of amodified internal combustion engine.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and object of the present invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of one side of one embodiment of the shuttle driving mechanism;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatical representation of a second embodiment of the shuttle driving mechanism using a 'monopropellant;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatical side elevation of a third embodiment in which the shuttle is driven by a binary propellant; and

Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in section of a two cycle gasoline engine as modified for driving the shuttle in one embodiment of the invention.

The shuttle propelling mechanism of the present in vention may be used with any type of weaving machine or loom. 'It can be used equally well with convertible or non-convertible looms having shuttle magazines. Likewise, it may be used with shuttles which do not carry a bob-bin but which are small shuttles having means to grip the end of the filling, and carry it across the weaving machine by drawing the yarn directly from a large package.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an example of a shuttle driving mechanism using a liquid propellant. At the left side of the figure there is shown two sets of warp the exhaust gases.

2,784,743 Patented Mar. 12, 1957 ice yarns and *11 which are separated to provide a space 12 constituting the so-oalled weaving shed, the lower set of yarns 11 being supported by a lay board 13 which supports the shuttle 1% during its flight through the weaving shed. At each end of the weaving shed there is a duplicate mechanism comprising a shuttle receiving box 15 including spring loaded walls 16 which serve to receive and de-accelerate the shuttle. The shuttle driving device per se comprises a combination chamber 17 in the form of a cylinder enclosing a piston 18, the piston rod 28 extending through the end wall and terminating in a shuttle receiving cup 19 which is shaped to conform to the end of the shuttle. The cylinder 17 is provided with exhaust ports 20 which are closed during the explosion but are open when the piston is shot out to its maximum point shown in the broken lines. The other end of the cylinder 17 may be closed or provided with a constricted exhaust opening 21. The cylinder 17 is enclosed in a chamber 22 connected to an exhaust duct 2-3 for removing The fluid propellant is introduced through the line 24 by means of a metering valve 25 which is actuated through the levers 26 and 27 by conneot-ion with the piston rod 2%. if the propellant is one which can be detonated by means of an electric spark, a spark plug 29 may be inserted in the combustion chamber 17 as shown, or a conventional detonator may be inserted in place of the spark plug. To energize the spark plug, the piston rod may be provided with a dependent arm 30 which closes an electrical switch 31 on the end wall of the chamber 22, this switch being connected through the wires 32 to the spark plug circuit. After the loom has been started the chamber 17 will remain hot and in some cases the temperature of this chamber may be suflicient to cause explosion of the propellant fluid. It should be noted that as the shuttle is received in the box it compresses the piston and simultaneously opens the valve 25 permitting a unit quantity of fluid propellant to enter the combustion chamber. When the explosion takes place the shuttle will be driven out of the box and through the weaving shed to the other side where it is received, actuating a propellant in asimilar explosion chamber and is again shot back; therefore, the shuttle is driven back and forth continuously. Further, the shuttle synchronizes the explosions because the shuttle actuates the explosion by its movement into the box.

In Figure 2 there is shown an embodiment especially designed for the use of monopropellants. The propellant is injected through the line 35 into the explosion chamber 36 which has the form of a cylinder and which is provided with a piston 37 having a shuttle receiving cup 38 on the end of the piston rod 39. The shuttle 14 is driven back and forth between the two identical units by the successive explosions. The propellant is introduced into the combustion chamber 36 when the valve 4% is opened by means of the arm 41 connected to the piston rod 39. If the propellant has to be exploded by a deto' nator or spark, the detonator 42 may be inserted in the wall of the combustion chamber as shown and energized through a second arm 43 attached to the piston rod 39. Any suitable liquid or gaseous monopropellant may be used such as, for example, methyl nitrate, nitro methane, a mixture of a hydrocarbon fuel with tetranitromethane or a mixture of 80 parts methyl nitrate and 20 parts methanol and the like.

In Figure 3 there is shown an embodiment 'of the invention for the use of binary propellants. The mechanism is similar to that shown in Figure 2, except that the combustion chamber 36 is provided with a second inlet pipe 35a for introducing the second ingredient of the binary mixture. Both of the lines 35 and 35a are provided with valves and 461a which are actuated by rods connected to the piston rod and operated by the movement of the shuttle. For the binary propellant there may be used mixtures such as, for example, hydrazine hydrate and hydrogen peroxide or phenyl hydrazine and nitric acid, aniline and nitric acid, furfural alcohol and nitric acid and the like. it will be noted that these binary propellants are in general hydrogen compounds of nitrogen or unsaturated compounds which are actuated by an oxidizer such as hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid or nitric oxide N204, but the invention is not limited to any particular class of binary propellants.

The invention is also capable of utilizing modified internal combustion engines as the shuttle driving devices. For example, there is shown in Figure 4 a modified two cylinder gasoline engine comprising a cylinder 50 having a large piston 51 centrally disposed to divide the cylinder into a combustion chamber 52 having a fuel chamber 53. The chamber 53 has a fuel intake port 54 provided with a oneway valve 55 and a line 56 which by-passes the piston in its retracted position to introduce fuel into the combustion chamber. This latter chamher also has an exhaust port 59 and a spark plug 57. The piston rod passes through the end of the cylinder 50 and is provided on the end with a shuttle receiving cup 58. As the operation of a two cycle gasoline engine is conventional, it will not be described. In this invention such an engine is positioned at each side of the loom in a position to receive the shuttle. The spark plug is actuated by the movement of the shuttle, for example, by the same switch arrangement shown in Fig. 1. The exhaust gases may be withdrawn through a duct such as duct 23 shown in Figure 1. No mechanical link is necessary between the opposite engines because the piston is compressed solely by the entering movement of the shuttle and therefore the two engines are synchronized by the movement of the shuttle.

Various changes may be made in the mechanism and in the form of the shuttle driving unit. For example, instead of a gasoline engine other type-s of internal combustion engines may be employed such as diesel engines.

While the drawings show embodiments in which the driving force is applied directly to the shuttle by means of a piston moving in the combustion chamber, it is to be understood that the shuttle may be supported on a catapult, or contact a catapult which is disposed between the end of the shuttle and the end of the piston rod, as shown in my parent application' The catapult will be only a short distance in projecting the shuttle through the weaving shed.

To reduce noise, the explosive chamber may be provided with a silencer of conventional type as used on ordnance and to reduce fumes resulting from the explosion, the loom may be provided with an air exhaust duct which is customary in modern weaving mills.

As pointed out hereinalbove, the present invention provides for the speeding up of the shuttle motion by utilizing an explosive charge. This has the advantages of making it possible to use wider looms and also to increase the speed of operation of looms.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for propelling a shuttle in a loom comprising a shuttle, means for exploding a fluid propellant, means actuated by said explosion for propelling said shuttle, and means actuated by the movement of said shuttle for actuating said explosion.

2. A shuttle propelling mechanism as recited in claim I in which means are provided for introducing the fluid propellant into a combustion chamber in successive unit quantities.

3. A shuttle propelling mechanism as recited in claim 1 in which said combustion chamber is provided with fluid lines for separately introducing different components of a binary propellant.

4. A shuttle propelling mechanism as recited in claim 2 in which the said combustion chamber comprises the combustion chamber of an internal. combustion engine and in which the shuttle serves to compress the gas in said chamber by the movement of the shuttle.

5. A shuttle propelling mechanism as recited in claim 1 in which the shuttle propelling means comprises a two cycle internal combustion engine.

6. In a process for propelling a shuttle through a loom between first and second positions comprising the steps of containing and compressing an explosive fluid propellant concomitantly with the movement of the shuttle into one of said first and second positions, causing said fluid propellant to explode as the shuttle moves into one of said first and second positions, and transmitting the explosive wave to the shuttle to propel the same toward the other of said first and second positions.

7. In a process for propelling a shuttle through a loom between first and second positions including the steps of alternately containing an explosive fluid propellant at said first and second positions, compressing the explosive fluid by the movement of the shuttle into said first and second positions, causing the fluid propellant to explode alternately at said first and second positions as the shuttle moves into said respective positions, and transmit-ting the explosive waves to the shuttle to propel the same between said first and second positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,682,895 Wade July 6, 1954 

1. A MECHANISM FOR PROPELLING A SHUTTLE IN A LOOM COMPRISING A SHUTTLE, MEANS FOR EXPLODING A FLUID PROPELLANT, MEANS ACTUATED BY SAID EXPLOSION FOR PROPELLING SAID SHUTTLE, AND MEANS ACTUATED BY THE MOVEMENT OF SAID SHUTTLE FOR ACTUATING SAID EXPLOSION. 